'It's my favourite time of the year': National Play Day returns after two years

The event, which began 15 years ago, is run by East End-based charity PEEK and is entirely free.

The event was held at Crown Point Sports Complex on Wednesday and ran from 12-3pm.

A range of activities were on offer for families and children to enjoy, such as archery, bubble football, a slip-n-slide, fire truck and vintage bus visits, as well as free food, a DJ and a live brass band.

National Play Day was created to get families out and about and back to the basics of play.

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Michaela Collins, CEO of PEEK, told the Glasgow Times: "[Play] is so important because it's one of the easiest things to forget about and it’s fundamental to children’s development.

“There’s so much pressure put on families to do activities all the time which costs a lot of money, and since everyone’s feeling the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis we just wanted to bring people out and put on a free event."

The 31-year-old added: "We try and do things that show that whatever you do here at National Play Day, you can do in your own home or back garden.”  

The PEEK team were expecting around 750 at the event, and it seemed they may have hit that target and then some.

Emma Hill, head of operations, said that at about 1pm they had “already run out of wristbands”.

The 31-year-old added: “I’ve been in twice already to get more.”

A Glasgow Life spokesperson said: “Glasgow Life Sport is a long-term supporter of the PEEK project’s National Play Day event, which recognises and celebrates the fundamental importance of play for children’s development.

"As part of the day, we supported the creation and delivery of a series of fun sport activities, and we were thrilled to see so many children being active, enjoying themselves."

When speaking to Glasgow Times about National Play Day, it was clear that the children had a blast.

Shay, six, said: “I went on the go-karts, the bus and did the bubble football,” the latter being one of his favourites.

When asked if he still had an amazing day despite the rain, Shay gave a big thumbs up.

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Similarly, Lia, nine, and Riham, 10, had a wonderful day.

Lia spent the day cycling on the racetracks, whilst Riham enjoyed bubble football and archery.

Both of the girls' favourite activity was cycling around with each other all day.

Lia added: “I went on the bus, it was cool!”

However, it was not just the children and families that had a great day, but also the volunteers.

16-year-old volunteer Becca said: “It’s my favourite time of the year."